Does selling your home give you anxiety? Are you worried that you won’t sell your home for the highest price possible? Are you worried that your home will sit on the market for a long time?
I know the thoughts going through your head as I recently sold my home and had similar worries:
What happens if it takes 6 months to sell? Will this cause me to lose my dream home? What if I have to carry two mortgages?
Put your fears aside. By avoiding the 5 mistakes below, you will be able to sell your home fast for the most amount of money. I’ve helped over 60 sellers this year sell their home for over 98.5% of their asking price in under 2 months!
Pricing Too High
Many sellers believe that pricing your home high out of the gate gives you the most room for negotiation. Think about the last time you bought a home. Were you on Zillow searching for that magical new listing? What was the first thing you did when you saw new listings? Did you look at the photos and make a snap judgment on the price? If you did, you are not alone. Buyers today are very educated on the price and value of homes. They know when properties are overpriced and often refuse to set up a showing if they feel that a property is overpriced.
Also consider that the property will be appraised prior to the approval of the loan. Even if we get a buyer to pay above the market value, there is a good chance that the bank will not approve the loan at the purchase price.
How do we avoid this situation? Prior to listing the property, I will create a detailed analysis of your property based on comparable properties, price per square foot data and available inventory data to come up with a price that is supported by the market. This will help you get the highest value possible in the least amount of time and will give you a chance to get multiple offers on your property.
Professional Photos / Video / 3D Tour
Online photos have replaced buyers' first showings in today’s digital world. Buyers expect great photography paired with video walkthroughs and even 3D tours. To make the process easy, I’ve partnered with one of the best photographers / videographers in Chicago to make sure your home gets the attention it deserves. We will even create a highlight video that rivals what you see on HGTV.
Not Inspecting the Home Prior to Listing
Once you are under contract, the leverage of the transaction shifts to the buyer. If you are trying to sell your home for the highest price, it’s advantageous to know what items an inspector is going to find prior to having the home inspected by the buyer. By getting your home inspected when you list, you have the opportunity to fix any issues prior to them coming up during attorney review. Most buyers will ask for more money than the cost of the repairs; normally 2-3x the cost of repairs as a credit. With most home inspections costing around $500, making this investment could save you anywhere from $500 to $3,000 during the negotiation of your sale and will put you in the driver seat.
Small repairs go a long way in selling your home. Consider painting your home as this is the highest return on investment you can make when listing. Also, plan on packing every non-essential items to declutter. The less stuff you have on all the flat surfaces the better your home will photograph and the better it will look during showings.
Not Negotiating with Your First Offer
So your house has been on the market for 3 days and you got an offer! :) You are excited, but the offer is less than you expected. You could decline the offer or counter. What should you do? Think about it from the buyer's perspective. You’ve only been on the market for a few days and they are worried that someone else is going to swoop in and get them into a multiple offer situation. You have the leverage. I normally tell my clients to counter offer the buyer even if they feel that the offer is insulting. By showing a small olive branch to the prospective buyer, we learn a lot about their strategy and mindset. If we counter $1,000 - $5,000 below our list price we could get them to move up another $5,000 - $10,000. Remember that everyone has a different negotiation style and normally your first offer ends up being your best because the buyers are still excited about your property and it’s new to the market.
Not Being Flexible for Showings
The first 3 weeks of a listing are crucial, when buyers are most excited about your property. Buyers see the value of your property and want to come and see it. The more we can accommodate reasonable showings, the more likely we are to get an offer early in the process. We will craft a schedule that works for you but do your best to accommodate reasonable showing requests.
Did you know: On average, a home that takes a price reduction sells for 2.8% less than a home that doesn’t. For a $400,000 property, this is a difference of $11,200. That doesn’t include the additional market time that costs you in taxes, assessments, insurance and interest. If we avoid the pitfalls listed above, we can ensure that you get your asking price or more and sell quickly.
Are you ready to get your home listed? If so, email me at tom@tcgroup.realty and we’ll create a custom plan to ensure your home sale is a success!
